EatQOD

The Amazon book link is here:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/006056573X/

Well, if Malkov worries about "carb cycling", Rosedale cuts the Gordian knot by simply saying - no carbs, never, nohow! High-glycemic-index. low-glycemic-index - they all just turn to sugar (and I think he's basically right, from what I've been able to glean from the medical literature).

So this is not a phasic/cycling diet, but really, a derivative of the Atkins diet. The main differences are, that Dr. Rosedale suggests eating 60% fats with very few carbs. Protein he limits to 50-75 g/day, so basically you're eating lots of fat. But it's GOOD fat, loaded with omega-3. So mostly fish, olive oil, canola oil, and various tree nuts. So fish, lean meats, nuts, and berries, and lots of salads - sort of a hunter-gatherer diet. He counsels against eating the so-called healthy polyunsaturated fats and using exclusively olive oil or canola oil for food preparation (besides the good omega-3 containing fats in tree nuts and fish).

I liked this book because it is very well written and clear, although there is little evidence for some of the statements made in the book - many things are true by inference, but not actually shown.

The basic thesis is that leptin causes insulin resistance, and we have to train our body to changeover from metabolizing sugars to metabolizing fats (presumably via enzyme induction) by really cutting down very low on carbs. When we do this, leptin levels go down, and insulin sensitization goes up, and our body starts to burn fats more efficiently and easily.

The degree of food restriction is actually quite severe in terms of types of food you can eat, and a number of foods (for example tomatoes!) are branded as having too many carbs, as are peanuts and other legumes. Plus he can't make up his mind about saturated fats. They aren't bad per se, but because we are trying to get rid of them from our body, we should avoid eating them.
But it's basically lots of salads and veggies and fish and fish and fish and lean meats - not too dissimilar from Atkins, although it does avoid ketosis (you eat sufficient carbs to avoid this) and excessive protein loads.

The guy's from Northwestern University Medical School - my alma mater, so he has to be good. He has a deep understanding of metabolism, and, as far as I could tell, presents findings fairly objectively. There is one abstract on Dr. Rosdale's website, that shows patients lost an average of 8% body weight over 90 days of follow-up. Say the mean start weight was about 180 lbs, this would be 15 lbs over 3 months - so a good, but not astounding, rate of weight loss. But I think the idea of eating a lot of good fats as the main dietary food is interesting, and he's the one championing this.

Particularly good points relevant to QOD:
1) Don't eat too much protein, especially all at once. If you do, it will just be turned into sugar (this is quite true, and perhaps our own recommendation of taking the 60 g/day protein during the OFF day needs to be qualified to take it in 3-4 servings/day).

2) The glycemic index is not too relevant - all non-fiber carbs get turned into sugar. You just have to avoid them carbs. Even breads and whole grain, and the whole base of the "old food pyramid!".

As far as the NeoAtkins group, I like his approach better than the South Beach diet.

WHAT HAVE I LEARNED FROM THE ROSEDALE DIET?
Avoid very large daily protein intakes and divide the amount, and perhaps rely more on omega-3 fatty type foods during the ON day. Plus, if you're having problems, try to limit carbs during the ON day as well.

By the way, he also points out some interesting concepts about supplements, including vitamin K2 to prevent osteoporosis.

MIght by some MaxEpa (fish oil) - plus Dr. Rosedale's favorite power food? A tin of sardines!

JT